What It Takes To Be A Journalist

02 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Musings

Tags

Art, Bad Journalism, Daffynitions, Hindustan Times, Journalism, Subodh Gupta, Twitter

1. Writing the truth.

2. Quoting facts as they are and not as you would want them to be.

3. Making an effort: to verify and qualify.

Three basic things that it appears the Hindustan Times’ reporters seem to lack. While a gross negligence towards facts seems to be a common ground among the harried young journalists of today, a happy desire to pick up words and fling them about into convenient sentences has become an art form that should go on their resume.

Take the case of young Aakriti Sawhney, art and lifestyle reporter with HT City, Delhi. Doing a breathtakingly insicive piece (with Damini Purkayastha) on how Subodh Gupta isn’t hacking it in Sotheby’s anymore, they appear to have collected some quotes, and possibly feeling the need to add some more spice to the piece, decided to pick a random tweet by me and play scrabble with the words, ending up with a sentence with an entirely different meaning from it’s original intent. Of course, they didn’t bother to check with me (why would they when they planned to play switcheroo with the words) nor did they qualify who I am or use my full name – would have taken too much effort to click search on Google. After such hard work, here is what it looks like:

For those unfamiliar with Twitter, @Daffynitions is a clever alternative dictionary that light-heartedly invents alternative definitions of common words. A recent one was: “Symbolism: a great excuse for having a sink full of dirty dishes.” I found that funny. And is also reminded me – IRONICALLY – of an artist whom I respect, Subodh Gupta. Famous for his installations of pots and pans, it seems ironic in the context of the ‘Daffynition’. Hence my tweet: “Subodh Gupta’s pots and pans, anyone? #art “@Daffynitions: Symbolism: a great excuse for having a sink full of dirty dishes.”

Ms. Sawhney and Ms. Purkayastha, thrilled with the discovery of such a potentially juicy misquote, decided to take this innocent tweet into their clever hands and came up with this concoction: “Even fans are no longer buying it [Subodh Gupta and other artists’ worth]. ‘SG’s pots and pans, anyone? A great excuse for having a sink full of dirty dishes,’ tweeted Sitanshi.”
See full article: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Subodh-s-sotheby-s-shock/Article1-704468.aspx

I am left speechless (or not) at journalism full of such integrity and honesty.

At the moment, I am waiting for them to remove the words associated with my name, a polite request to follow the first 3 points above, if possible.

Update: Hindustan Times has removed the incorrect quote and has also issued a corrigendum.

the highs of the lows

01 Monday Jun 2009

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Musings

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Tags

Art, luxurybrands, Stock Market, Thoughts

The stock market, the art market, the luxury goods market – all have been hit. I read a good article by Ben Lewis in The Times (UK) which thoroughly summarizes exactly what has been going on. Quoted from his article: “The prices were so high that they obliterated the meanings of the works, reducing them to symbols of excess and obscenity. I suspected that these prices were a sign that something was going dangerously wrong in the world economy and the human imagination.”

And this reflects across all the recessionary markets which faced inflated prices. At the end of the day, the behaviour of buyers is highly idiotic – they buy at a premium and sell to stay afloat at a low market. That is also what my father-in-law talks about, especially in his recent book that highlights the irrational behaviour of the buyers in the stock market.

It is not very different with art or luxury goods – it is also a severe case of herd mentality, when people buy because everyone else is buying, to make that quick buck bec they believe they will be left out, bec they are afraid of looking ‘uncool’ or ‘stupid’, or bec they just have a lot of money lying around. The worst is when people borrow to buy into goods at inflated prices, planning to cash in and make the big moolah. These people tend to slink away in misery when the markets are low, waiting for the markets to do well again, before investing! It makes no sense. The smart investor would buy when no one is buying and when the deals are available, right?

The other deal with inflated prices is that those aiming for statements of wealth are willing to part with more money, simply to appear ‘cooler’ – to have been able to afford a painting at an over-inflated price – a price that may never come around again until the next sucker turns up. These are people who are bound to be let down. This ability or willingness to part with a premium for something that may never be worth that much, denotes serious irrationality; and is one of the reasons that markets spiral out of control.

The question remains – how far is one willing to go to make that statement of wealth? to show that you have ‘arrived’ – how low are you willing to go, and how high a price are you willing to pay?